Statement by the Alliance for Peacebuilding on the Crisis in Ukraine
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
February 23rd, 2022
CONTACT
Nick Zuroski | (202) 822-2047 | nick@allianceforpeacebuilding.org
Washington, D.C., USA. – The Alliance for Peacebuilding (AfP), the leading nonpartisan global peacebuilding network of 160+ members operating in 181 countries working to end violent conflict and build sustainable peace, urges all parties to the crisis in Ukraine to continue dialogue, exercise restraint, and commit to a diplomatic solution to end the violent conflict in Ukraine. AfP also urges international donors to robustly and urgently expand peacebuilding and conflict prevention assistance to support stability and prevent conflict in Ukraine.
Russia’s annexation of Crimea in 2014 resulted in 14,000 deaths, 30,000 casualties, and the internal displacement of 1.5 million people. After increasing rhetoric and troop mobilization, Russia recognized the regions of Donetsk and Lugansk as independent and began its military invasion of Ukraine. In response, the U.S. and its Western allies issued sanctions and Germany halted the Nord Steam 2 pipeline, further heightening global tensions.
While there have been attempts at diplomacy, AfP regrets the news that U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov will not meet as scheduled on Thursday to discuss this “moment of peril” for millions of Ukrainians. AfP urges all parties to continue talking, as diplomacy and dialogue are the only possible path to prevent a large scale violent conflict in Ukraine that could result in significant deaths, destruction, and a massive refugee crisis.
AfP welcomes reports of contingency planning and increased humanitarian assistance by USAID and other donors. However, international donors must also continue and expand funding for peacebuilding programs to mitigate the ongoing and escalating conflict dynamics inside Ukraine. Russia has been trying to destabilize Ukraine internally by stoking community divisions, leading cyberattacks, and meddling in elections. The United Nations (UN) and many of AfP’s members are working to build peace through enhancing social cohesion, bridging digital and informational divides, advancing institutional transparency, and fostering economic resilience. It is vital for multilateral and bilateral donors to increase support for these programs and immediately fund new activities, including early warning atrocity prevention and human rights monitoring programs.
AfP urgently calls on Russia, Ukraine, the U.S, and NATO members, with the support of the UN Security Council, to keep diplomatic channels open and continue dialogue to prevent further destabilization and conflict in Ukraine and de-escalate regional and global tensions. Additionally, donors must provide increased humanitarian assistance to Ukraine and to continue and expand robust assistance for conflict prevention and peacebuilding programming.
The Alliance for Peacebuilding (AfP)—named the “number one influencer and change agent” among peacebuilding institutions worldwide—is a 501(c) 3 not-for-profit, nonpartisan network of 150+ organizations working in 181 countries to prevent conflict, reduce violence, improve lives, and build sustainable peace. At our core, AfP cultivates a network to strengthen and advance the peacebuilding field, enabling peacebuilding organizations to achieve greater impact—tackling issues too large for any one organization to address alone.